English
Decca's two-for-one struts the label "Caractère" -
which in French means orginality, allure and Gallic individuality.
Decca's double-header was first based on the affinities of Decca's
artists with French musical tastes. Thus "Caractère"
linked Pascal Rogé to Debussy or Ravel, Monteux to Beethoven;
Sir Georg Solti to Wagner Preludes. This series was subsequently known
in the UK and the USA as DOUBLE DECCA.

More recently, Decca
has released a number of operas - but only in France - in their recent
"twofer" series "Rouge Opéra", where you
can find the Solti-Nilsson performances ofSalome and Elektra,
the Tebaldi-Bergonzi La Bohème, Sutherland's Lakmé
or even her Tales of Hoffman with Domingo, and that's only the
tip of the iceberg - you can even find Sir Colin Davis's first
recording of Béatrice et Bénédict, an
Operanet choice for the 101 Best. This month's "Smart Buys"
on Decca include:J.R.